Pokémon: Dying Light
by WillamFic
Summary: A prequel to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky. A human and a Pokémon team up to undo the damage of the past four hundred years and restore light to the world.
1. Introduction

_Welcome back!  
__I assume from your reappearance that you have decided?_

…

_Good, then we shall begin.  
__First off, we must note that changing someone from a Pokémon to a human being is a difficult process.  
__Are you completely sure about this?_

**Yes.**

_Okay… allow us to begin.  
__Sit completely still. We must finish before they learn of our plan._

**Yes, they will destroy us if they find out.**

_Would they really destroy a Pokémon as important as yourself?_

**Yes, they would.**

**As much as I believe he wouldn't have done before the collapse, I also believe that after it changed him it came within his power to do such a thing. We are in as much danger of being killed as any Pokémon who defies him.**

_Very well. Are there any memories you wish to keep?_

**Keep my memories of the old world. If I had those, I might remember them after the transformation.**

_I agree completely.  
__Now, are you ready to begin the final process?_

**Yes, please start.**

_Okay, sit completely still…  
__We will now wipe your memories._

_Almost done…_

_I am done. Open your eyes._

* * *

_Welcome!_

_This is the portal that will lead you to the world of Pokémon!  
__Before we start, I have some questions for you.  
__Are you ready?  
__Then… let the questions begin!_

**W-wait! Questions?  
****I don't even know who I am or why I'm here! Why are you asking questions?**

…

**Hello?**

_I am still here._

**Whoever you are, please answer my questions before I answer yours. ****Who am I? Who are you? ****More importantly, why can't I see anything? I'm just in a void that changes colours. Is this a dream? Am I... dreaming this?**

_I... cannot say._

**You hesitated! You must know!**

_I really don't know._

_Now, may I start to question you?_

…**continue.**

_What are your talents?_

**What sort of a question is that? ****I mean, I don't know myself, how am I meant to have a clue what my talents are? ****Hmm, I don't even think I have talents! Are you sure I'm supposed to be here?**

_Not even one?_

**No, not even one talent.**

_Are you truly sure?_

**Wait, it's coming back. It's like someone's leaking the memories of my old life to me... bit by bit. My talent is... that I'm a psychic!**

_Very good!  
Perfect answer!  
Now onto the next question.  
__Someone is harassing your friend. What do you do?_

**Um, I would probably intervene. ****Well, they're my friend for one, so I would have to intervene... So, I guess I'm good at standing up to people. Oh, and if I'm a psychic I suppose I would push him away with my powers. ****I don't like it when people annoy each other.**

_Imagine you are meeting with the leader of a very famous organisation. __How do you speak to him?_

**Well if I like his motives, I guess I respect him. If I don't, I challenge him.**

_So overall, you would say you're a bold person._

**Yes…**

_Normally, I would say your personality is that of a Turtwig._

**Normally?**

_Yes. You see, these are extraordinary times._

**In other words I could become, say, a Charmander?**

_No. You will not be turned in a Po__kémon at all.  
__Now, what is your favourite smell?_

**I guess it's fresh bread, because it smells really nice and refreshing.**

_Good. Do you have any fears?_

**I hate heights, and the dark.**

_You hate the dark?_

**Yes.**

_This could cause some complications. __You see, the world you're about to enter is a very dark one, but y__ou're safe as long as I'm with you._

**But that won't be for long… will it?**

_I suppose it won't._

**Any more questions?**

_What is your favourite colour?_

**I don't really know, but I've got this weird feeling… That I'm connected to a certain colour.**

**I think it might be… blue.**

_Blue is a good colour.  
__It signifies calm, purpose… and at one point, it was his colour._

**Who is he?**

_Someone you will meet on your travels…_

**Will I want to be with him?**

_No. __If he learns of your purpose, or even your presence here, you will suffer. __But enough on that. I have enough information. __Your memories of this conversation will be wiped, but first you must choose a partner. __This Pokémon will accompany you everywhere, and you will become great friends.  
__Choose wisely._

…**chosen.**

_Good choice. A strong partner.  
__Now, close your eyes… take a deep breath… and now exhale.  
__Breathe slowly…  
__In… out…  
__In… out…  
__Stop.  
__I am done._

**What did you do?**

_You will remember nothing of your past life, or of me. __Remember, you will have a purpose in the world you are about to enter… or perhaps I should say re-enter. All the mistakes of your past life will be erased and you will be able to begin afresh. _

* * *

_He is gone._

**Gone?**

_Yes. Thank you for wiping his memories._

**I do believe he is still here.**

_No, you may feel that… as a part of him will always be here with us._

**I see.**

_Now listen, we have to prepare… for when he returns to us as a human._

**Very well. I shall return to the lake.**

_I shall also return home..._

_...and together, we shall prepare..._

_...for the time he returns..._

_...and restores balance to the world._


	2. Chapter One

Chapter 1  
-Grovyle and Sceptile-

* * *

_Three Pokémon floated through the sky gracefully, drifting here and there but not really caring about it. As they hovered over a lake, a puffy white cloud came by. One Pokémon rolled over in sheer joy. Everything was perfect. The hills, rolling infinitely into the horizon, were green. The lake, filled with perfectly blue water, was shimmering in the afternoon sun as Magikarp drifted lazily over its surface. Nothing could ruin the moment. More and more Pokémon flocked to the lake to watch the three tiny Pokémon relaxing in the sun. Everyone laughed as one of them, a small blue one with a red gem embedded into its forehead, used its psychic powers to lift some water from the lake and straight into its mouth. The other two, similar looking but yellow and pink, rolled over and did the same. The blue Pokémon patted the pink one on the back as it choked on the water before turning back to face the sky. A while later, the three Pokémon rolled over to get another drink…_

**Crunch!**

From absolutely nowhere, a human appeared. It was as simple as that. One second the cave was empty, and the next a human had fallen out of the ceiling. A few Pokémon standing outside fled from the noise. The human made a low growling sound. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, one which had appeared after his crash landing. Slowly but not steadily, movement returned one twitch at a time. Taking long, rattling, rasping breaths, the human ever so slowly inched himself off of the floor and into a sitting position. His stomach was cramped, sending waves of pain through his body as he coughed violently. His head didn't hurt too much. A few minutes passed in complete silence. The human started to feel a little dizzy. With trembling arms, he pushed himself up into a standing position and gingerly took a step forwards. His whole leg shook and he fell onto his front. His stomach started to cramp again. Taking care not to slip, he stood up and walked over to a large rock to sit on. After a while, his forehead finally started to ache. Wave after wave of pain came from both his stomach and his head. Eventually, he human leaned over the side of the rock and threw up. That felt better! Feeling more confident now, he stood up again and took two steps across the room before he had to lie back down. _This sucks_, thought the human, _why can't I stand up?_ He tried to get up again, but his arms buckled and he ended up going nowhere. After a few more minutes of this, the human blacked out.

_The three Pokémon stood shell-shocked, looking out over the lake. It had frozen. What had once been a paradise for Pokémon and humans alike was now frozen. All the colour was gone, and the trees had transformed. Where there once stood beautiful green trees stood grey, dead, decaying trees. The pink Pokémon sniffed, then started to cry. The yellow one reached out to pat it on the back when they were interrupted by a mighty roar. An enormous Pokémon landed in front of them, coloured a dark navy blue with grey steel lining its head, chest and back. A few orange arrows decorated its legs and body. The blue Pokémon raised its head and cried out with a calm, powerful voice._

"_Dialga! What has happened!" Dialga simply stared angrily at the blue Pokémon. The blue Pokémon spoke again._

"_Dialga! Tell us what has happened here!"_

_Dialga slowly opened its mouth, then made a loud sound. "GROOO-OOOHH!"_

_The blue Pokémon slowly, carefully stepped back before trying to talk again. He spoke carefully. "Dialga. What has happened? You look different. You are not your calm self. Please be so kind as to explain what is going on."_

_Dialga roared again before speaking. "TIME HAS STOPPED HERE… TIME… STOPPED HERE…"_

_The blue Pokémon spoke up again, cutting him off. "Why? Why has it stopped?"_

_Dialga blinked. "ENOUGH!" he shouted, stamping and lunging forwards towards the blue Pokémon._

_The blue Pokémon continued to back away. "Alright! ALRIGHT! Stop, stop, stop! STOP!"_

_Dialga was enraged. "I WILL NOT… STOP!" he cried, slashing the blue Pokémon across the face with a might claw._

_The blue Pokémon fell to the ground bleeding, and then… and then…_

"Should we wake him, dad?"  
"We don't know if he's with us or not. I vote leave him."  
"How often is it that you see a human around these parts?"  
"Fine, point taken. Get him up, Grovyle."

The human opened his eyes. So he was still alive! That was a nice surprise. Taking a look around, he saw he was still in the cave he had awoken in, but now there were others inside it. A Grovyle, slightly shorter than he was, was standing there looking at him curiously. A Sceptile stood by his side, with his arms crossed and one brow raised. The human extended a hand out slowly. Grovyle looked up at the Sceptile curiously and raised his eyebrow. Sceptile shrugged.

"Um, it's… a greeting, guys?" said the human slowly, gesturing at the two. "Handshake?"  
Grovyle extended one arm and the human grabbed his hand and shook it. Grovyle quickly took his arm away.  
"Who are you?" asked Sceptile, extending his hand to greet the human. The human shook it, then rubbed his chin in thought.  
"You know, I don't really know," said the human, looking down at himself. "I sort of just woke up here with no memories. I don't even know my own name!"  
Sceptile thought for a little while until Grovyle interrupted the silence.  
"If you don't have a name, shall we just call you human?"  
The human jumped a little at the suggestion. "Human? You want to call me HUMAN?"  
Grovyle took a step back in surprise. "Alright, we'll shorten it to Hugh," said Grovyle.  
The human smiled at this. "Hugh is actually a human name, so that works fine,"  
Sceptile interrupted the conversation by coughing loudly. "You two, we need to get moving,"  
Grovyle nodded, and started to walk away. "Come with us Hugh. You're lucky we found you,"  
"What happened?" asked Hugh.

Grovyle gestured him on, then started to speak. "Listen, we used to live in a valley nearby. There were lots of plant Pokémon staying there, like me and my dad. One day, a Pokémon named Dusknoir came here, apparently on Dialga's behalf. And then he proceeded to lay down a bunch of strict rules. He killed anyone who broke them, so we all plotted and escaped. Then we found you," he said.

Hugh looked down at the floor. He felt sorry for the two Pokémon, even though he'd only just met them. _Should I really trust them_, thought Hugh, _I mean I've only just met them! _Hugh couldn't really imagine having friends and family killed just for breaking sudden rules that were added by some random Pokémon! For some reason, his heart had started to beat faster as he thought of it. He hadn't heard of him or seen him before, but he felt hatred for this Dusknoir.

"Grovyle, what does Dusknoir look like?" asked Hugh curiously.  
"He's a ghost Pokémon. He's tall, grey with yellow markings and has one eye and an antenna on his head." replied Grovyle.  
Hugh shook a little at the description. A ghost Pokémon? Not good. He watched Sceptile's blank face as they walked on through the canyon, when another question came to him. He directed this one at Sceptile.

"Sceptile, why is the world so dark?"

Sceptile thought for a minute or two before answering. "I have no idea, but I heard it once had colour in it. Pokémon believe time has stopped, which is why there are floating rocks littering the sky, and that Dialga has something to do with it. They say that this Dusknoir was here, instructed by Dialga to find Pokémon trying to fix the world and eliminate them."

"Eliminate people trying to fix the world? Why?"

Sceptile simply shook his head, and gestured to start running. Everyone sped up a little. Grovyle started to hop between the floating rocks, putting him far ahead of everyone. A few minutes passed in silence. Hugh's heart was starting to beat faster and faster, and his legs were beginning to ache. They had been running for at least seven minutes now. He needed rest.

"Can we stop?" panted Hugh.  
Sceptile looked annoyed. "It's only been ten minutes!"  
Hugh was surprised. "I counted seven,"  
Sceptile shrugged. "We can't exactly tell from the sun, as there isn't one. This world is nothing but darkness, but we can guess time."  
Hugh nodded glumly, then breathed out in surprise when Sceptile swept him up in his arms and placed him on his back. Sceptile kept running with Hugh on his back for another couple of minutes.

* * *

**Darkened Cave**

An hour later, Hugh, Sceptile and Grovyle found themselves at a small clearing. Sceptile and Grovyle immediately headed towards the nearest opening in the rock. Hugh followed them, curious at first. Eventually he realised they were looking for a place they could stay without being immediately spotted. He walked into the cave and sat down. Grovyle was attempting to start a fire.

"Need help with that?" asked Hugh.  
"Yeah… I'm not good at starting fires." said Grovyle.  
"There's another reason; we're in the Darkened Cave. See down there?" Sceptile pointed deeper into the cave. "It's a Mystery Dungeon. We're not inside the dungeon right now, but don't stray too deep or you could get lost in there. Part of the Darkened Cave dungeon's curse is that it makes fires harder to start… So you'll just have to live with no fire,"  
"What's a Mystery Dungeon?" asked Hugh. Sceptile didn't reply and neither did Grovyle.  
Hugh shrugged and bent over the place where Grovyle had been, and rubbed his hands together. Somehow, a roaring fire appeared instantly. Hugh leapt back in surprise, smacked his head on the rock then fell down. Grovyle almost fell over from laughing, and had to steady himself by grabbing hold of Sceptile.  
"What just happened?" asked Sceptile.  
Hugh just shook his head, rubbing the lump on the back of it. He was too shocked to answer. He just started a fire with his bare hands! He examined his hands very carefully, trying to think what he had done. He had been thinking of starting a fire, and so fire had shot out of his hands immediately. _I'm magic! I'm a magician,_ thought Hugh. He grinned at Grovyle and Sceptile. Grovyle was still laughing at Hugh's reaction.  
"Stop that!" he shouted, pushed Grovyle back. Grovyle just continued to laugh.  
After a while, Sceptile joined in. Hugh sat down and crossed his arms over his chest. When they finally stopped, he stood up again.  
"So, what_ was_ that?" asked Hugh.  
Grovyle looked up at Sceptile who was clearly in deep thought. "You could be… psychic?" asked Sceptile finally.  
Hugh looked at his hands, then pointed them out of the cave. _I want to make a fire,_ he thought. Nothing happened.  
Sceptile shook his head. "If you are a psychic, then you'll need to recharge between actions. At least, if you've never used your psychic powers before, you will,"  
"Right," said Hugh. "So if I am indeed psychic, I'll need to learn to control it better,"  
Sceptile nodded, then yawned. "It's getting late… at least, it probably would have been,"  
Grovyle yawned as well, then lay down on the cave floor. He was near enough to the fire to be warm, but far enough not to be set on fire. Sceptile sat near the entrance to the cave. "I'll go on watch," he said. "Get some sleep, Hugh."  
Hugh nodded, and lay down next to Grovyle, who rolled over to face him, and they looked at each other for a bit.  
"Night," they both whispered, then closed their eyes. Eventually sleep came to both of them.

Sceptile waited. And he waited. At least an hour had passed before he determined that the two he was sharing the cave with were fast asleep. Truth be told, he was getting old. He could still fight, and he was still an experience explorer, but the truth was that he was getting very old. Grovyle had been alive for at least fifteen years, and the last human he had spoken to had used some technical terms to describe them. Sceptile didn't know what that meant, but he knew the humans would probably explain it. Sceptile slowly and carefully drew himself to full height, before leaving the cave. He knew he should be stronger for his age, but he had never had a good reason to battle. He had spent most of his time looking after Grovyle, and he knew Grovyle was smart enough to function on his own. Maybe it was time to very politely excuse himself, and leave. Besides, Grovyle had Hugh. Sceptile shook his head in anger. He knew he couldn't just leave! But he had to! He wasn't in the mood to continue this. Every time he had tried to leave, his instincts had conflicted with his thoughts. Leave. Stay. Leave. Stay. No! Stay! But he really wanted to leave… Sceptile continued to think. _Perhaps_, he thought, _perhaps I can pretend I've heard news of our village being released… then get Dusknoir to kill me?_ Sceptile considered this. Then he decided it was wrong_. I can't just die on them_, after all, he thought. _Why, oh why, is this so tough,_ though Sceptile. He sat there mulling over it for a whole hour, when he heard Grovyle stirring. _No_, thought Sceptile, _it's not time for this. He should be asleep! _He pretended to be sleeping in a sitting position, as if he'd fallen asleep during the watch. Grovyle eventually went back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, Sceptile stood outside the cave, atop the cliff above it. Even though there was no wind in the darkened world, he felt refreshed from it. He knew that was especially weird, as he hadn't felt refreshed since the night before Dusknoir had arrived over two months ago. He hadn't slept at all since. Every night, he had considered how to escape, and now he was out he considered whether it was time to leave. Sometimes he drifted off while he was on watch, but only for a few seconds. When Grovyle was on watch, he had sat there thinking until Grovyle fell asleep. He always tried to be the one on watch so Grovyle could sleep. For some reason, his son's safety mattered more than his life now. Sceptile sighed loudly. Nothing was easy nowadays. He sat down, and looked down the cliff. It was certainly a long way down. He looked out to the horizon and saw a big cluster of yellow lights, flickering. As nice as it looked, he knew what it was. It was fire, from his village. Somewhere, the rest of his family were there. All his brothers and sisters as well as their Treecko and Grovyle sons and daughters. Sceptile shuddered to think what Dusknoir had done and would do to them. He would go back there one day. One day, he knew he would kill Dusknoir for his crimes. One day…

Hugh opened his eyes. He was still in the cave, looking at Grovyle. He sat up, feeling much better than when he first fell out of the sky into the other cave. Somehow his life was all about caves. Waking up in a cave, going to another cave to spend the night in… No doubt the next night would be spent in a cave as well. He sat there peacefully for a few minutes, thinking about how he was in the world, who he was, and why he was here until he noticed something was wrong.  
"Grovyle. Grovyle, get up!" hissed Hugh.  
Grovyle sat up immediately, then looked around. "Where's dad?"  
"I was just about to ask that, help me look outside!" replied Hugh, stepping outside.

Sceptile looked down at the two below him. So they'd noticed before he could return.  
He called down to them. "Hey! Up here!"  
Grovyle looked up. "Dad, you scared us! Come down!" he called.  
Sceptile did so. Grovyle and Hugh waited, even though it took him ten minutes to climb down. When he reached the bottom, Grovyle walked up to him with an interesting expression on his face. Hugh couldn't understand what he was thinking.  
"Can you go over there a minute, Hugh?" asked Sceptile, sensing danger. Hugh walked away.

Sceptile watched Grovyle standing there looking at him.  
"What is it, Grovyle?" he said, watching him.  
Grovyle finally spoke. "You had us worried! We thought you were dead! Why did you leave us like that?"  
Sceptile looked taken aback. "Grovyle, I just wanted some fresh air,"  
"Liar!" shouted Grovyle. "There's no breeze in this world! You had fresh air when you were sitting in the mouth of the cave!"  
"I just wanted to be up high! Can't you believe that?" said Sceptile.  
"But you didn't, did you?" said Grovyle angrily.  
Sceptile sighed. "Grovyle…"  
"What?" said Grovyle, clearly irritated.  
"For a while now, I've been considering how to... not exactly get away, but to leave. To rest. I haven't slept in-" whispered Sceptile.  
"That time is not now!" replied Grovyle.  
"No," said Sceptile. "I'm getting too old for this. You can fend for yourself out there,"  
"Dad…" whispered Grovyle. "I can't be Hugh's teacher… I can't be what you were to me,"  
"No," replied Sceptile. "You can and you will,"  
"When do you leave?" sighed Grovyle.  
"When I see an opportunity," said Sceptile firmly, but he seemed a little wary, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying.  
Grovyle sighed and closed his eyes, knowing there was no way he could win this. "Alright, dad..." he sighed wearily. "I don't want you going and I don't support it, but I'll help you if you need a rest."  
But Sceptile had gone.

* * *

**Skirl Canyon**

An hour later, the trio were running between two large cliffs which were casting ghostly shadows across the terrain. Hugh was feeling much better, and found he was able to move between a run and a jog at a consistent pace while keeping up with the others. They hadn't told him about what they had been talking about after Sceptile descended the cliff, but Grovyle seemed tougher, somehow. He would sometimes slow down to talk to Hugh and explain things to him, like what a Mystery Dungeon was. He would also explain the uses of various items, ranging from Oran berries to Doom seeds. Hugh appreciated the concern. Sceptile just stayed ahead, ignoring the two. Hugh couldn't help thinking they'd had an argument.  
"Hey, Grovyle!" called Hugh. "Why's this place called the Skirl Canyon?"  
Grovyle slowed down and thought for a little bit. "Skirl is like a whistling sound I guess... some sort of human instrument. Apparently this place used to have loads of strong winds." he explained, before speeding up again.  
Hugh nodded. It made sense. A few more minutes passed in silence, until Grovyle walked up to Sceptile and started to talk to him about Dusknoir's whereabouts. Sceptile explained that he was still at their village, but he had probably sent a few servants after them. Eventually Grovyle fell back to continue talking to Hugh.  
"Hey, Hugh! Listen up!" shouted Grovyle over his panting breaths. "We're gonna try tackle a Mystery Dungeon to save some time!"  
Hugh grinned. He knew all about Mystery Dungeons, anomalies that caused places to become shape shifting mazes that slowly killed you if you spent too much time inside. "Gotcha!" he replied, going over what he knew about survival inside of one.

After another couple of minutes of constant running, the group found themselves at a dead end. A huge hold in the rock lead into a dark cave. Hugh walked towards it with the others. "This is the dungeon!" said Grovyle happily. Hugh nodded. Without looking back, the three walked into the dungeon as if they were entering their own house.

On top one of the cliffs that lined the canyon, a small purple Pokémon stood watching the retreating backs of Sceptile, Grovyle and Hugh. It slowly bowed its head. It knew it had found them, and that Dusknoir wanted him to report the minute it saw them, but really? Did it have to do it straight away? The little Pokémon wanted to play with them a little more before reporting back to Dusknoir, perhaps even take them in. It grinned and its gemstone eyes flashed. The Sableye took one last look at the Skirl Canyon, made up its mind, then it rolled off of the cliff. It stood up near the top, and pressed its claws into the ground, sliding down it with its claws slowing it down. It surfed all the way down, then made a jump near the bottom and landed silently, poised like an assassin ready to strike. It sprinted towards the dungeon entrance, then rolled around the corner just in case the trio decided to come back out. After the sound of their voices faded and the Sableye could no longer hear them, he ran into the dungeon himself.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
-Dungeon Exploration-

The dungeon was a dark place, even darker than the world outside. As before, various pieces of debris ranging from rocks to blades of grass, were floating in mid-air. Hugh took a few steps forward, cautiously. He was expecting something nicer than this.

"Where do we go?" asked Hugh. He was being careful not to trip on anything that wasn't touching the ground, but there was a lot to avoid.

"We've got to find the stairs…" replied Grovyle. The trio continued to walk forwards. The corridor turned ninety degrees and went off in another direction. Sceptile waved them down the turn and took the lead for himself. Hugh watched Sceptile curiously. He was clearly hiding something that he was ashamed of. Sceptile gave Hugh a look that plainly said 'What do you want?'. Hugh looked down at his feet, wondering how Sceptile knew he was thinking about him.

"He's getting too old for this and he wants to leave…" hissed Grovyle, finally deciding to properly trust Hugh. He had trusted him to a small degree before, but he decided Hugh wasn't working for Dusknoir.

"Makes sense," said Hugh. "I'd probably leave if I was old." Sceptile ignored this as if they weren't there, but he did cast Grovyle a warning look. Grovyle mimicked Hugh and look down at his feet, but was soon startled out of it as he walked into Sceptile's outstretched arm. Sceptile had stopped them both to point out the exit. Hugh inspected it. Someone had carved a set of stairs into the floor. The trio walked up the staircase carefully, and onto the next floor.

Once they had reached the next floor, Sceptile took the lead again. Something small and purple shot past, but only Hugh saw it.

"What was that?" he yelped. He had been certain it had been a Pokémon, but now he wasn't so sure. Had it even been there?

"What was what?" replied both Grovyle and Sceptile simultaneously.

Hugh shrugged. He honestly didn't know what it was, but he felt it was dangerous. The three continued on, but suddenly they heard something.

"Shheeaaaaaaaaadddjj!" It was a Pokémon's cry. Hugh looked around, wondering what the voice was, but he stopped wondering when a Shedinja burst out of the wall. He let out an uncharacteristic screech and leapt back. Grovyle howled with laughter at his reaction but was soon silenced when Shedinja butted him over. Sceptile tried to attack it, by summoning a large green ball of energy and launching it at the small Pokémon. Nothing happened. Hugh sprinted forwards, jumped into the air and smashed it with his feet. Shedinja gave a cry of pain and fainted, falling through the wall and coming to rest somewhere inside the rock.

"Hah… Hah…" huffed Hugh. He hadn't expected to be that worn out by it, but the truth was that he hadn't been expecting a fight, and he had no experience with it.

"It seems Shedinja can only be harmed by attacks that threaten it… but it also seems a regular attack will destroy it." said Sceptile.

"A regular attack is basically a non-move. If I kicked you, that's a regular attack, but if I sliced you with the leaves on my wrists, that's a move." said Grovyle wisely. Hugh had nothing to say to this, so he just closed his eyes for a few seconds, before getting up to inspect the wall.

"Ghosts can go through walls, I take it." he muttered. He didn't get a reply.

After an hour of scanning the floor, Grovyle came across the stairs tucked into the corner of a room they had checked several times. In each search, they had given the room a quick scan, but never turned around the into the small alcove where the stairs were. After a small argument between Grovyle and Sceptile over who had been in charge of the search, the trio ascended the stairs to the next floor. Hugh immediately saw the purple shape again, but this time it stopped to look at them. It had gemstones for eyes, and it looked like a small hunched up human, but it had claws instead of fingers, and when it moved the large gemstone eyes glittered.

"One of Dusknoir's Sableye!" cried Grovyle, immediately jumping up and swinging one leafy arm in its direction. The Sableye yelped and ran away. Everyone sprinted after it, and it lead them into a massive cavernous room. The rocky ceiling was almost completely covered in the paralyzing darkness and the room made Hugh shiver a bit. As the Sableye crossed half way, a massive horde of Pokémon jumped out of unlikely places- on top of floating rocks, through cracks in the ceiling and walls, and one through the exit the Sableye was heading for. They were completely cornered by about fifty Pokémon.

"Wheh-heh-heh!" cried the Sableye. "Monster house!" running in between the different Pokémon, waiting for Grovyle, Sceptile and Hugh to finish them for him. Hugh started kicking Pokémon away, while Sceptile and Grovyle started slicing them with their leaves. Sableye was getting pummelled by four different Pokémon; a Rhyperior, a Seviper, a Misdreavus and for some reason, a Slowpoke, all sitting still, and all clearly angry. They had been changed by the dark world, and they seemed to be very simple minded; this is my territory. Get out.

"Help! Help!" cried Sableye, almost forgetting that the three in the room were the Pokémon he was supposed to be taking to Dusknoir for execution. Grovyle ran forwards, as Sceptile tried to restrain him, hissing something about enemies in his ear.

"I'll help you!" screamed Grovyle, finally breaking free, dashing forwards and slicing all four of the Pokémon. They immediately retreated, two of them eventually fainting from the damage. The rest left the room.

"Thank you, thank you, how can I ever thank-" began the Sableye, but Grovyle cut him off by knocking him out with three slices to the head.

"That takes care of him," said Grovyle, "Now, to take care of the others."

"No need!" called Sceptile, grabbing something blue off of the floor. "I found a wonder orb!" Grovyle nodded to him, and Sceptile slammed it into the floor, breaking it. All the Pokémon in the room were immediately warped out and onto random places on the floor. The blue orb had been dropped by another explorer. Sceptile and Grovyle grabbed Hugh's hands and sprinted out, Hugh following with a confused expression. Soon they arrived at the stairs in the next room.

They spent a long time on the next floor. No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the stairs. As they rounded another corner, Sceptile announced he was tired and wanted to rest. Grovyle and Sceptile sat down in a small crack in the wall and Hugh went to join them. Before he could get to the crack, he heard footsteps behind him and spun around to see a Kirlia had just entered the room. Kirlia opened her mouth, but Hugh reacted first. He raised his hands, prepared for an attack, and a purple fire shot out of them and narrowly missed her.

"Ah! Oh! Stop!" cried Kirlia. Hugh didn't stop, however. He raised his hands again and Kirlia did the same. "If you're going to play that way, human, so will I." Kirlia raised her hands and Hugh raised off of the floor. She pushed her hands forwards and lowered them and Hugh was flung across the room. "Stop." She instructed. Hugh stood up slowly.

"I never knew I could do that…" muttered Hugh.

"You lit a fire for us, though." said Grovyle. Hugh suddenly remembered, and feeling exceptionally stupid, got back up. The Kirlia continued to advance.

"Why did you attack me, human? Why did you do it?" she inquired.

Hugh looked ashamed. "I attacked you because I thought you were wild," he said. "And I didn't want to get hurt."

Kirlia nodded, then voiced another thought. "But you attacked even though I spoke to you- wilds don't speak."

"Oh," said Hugh. "I didn't know that. But what about the psychic stuff? I mean, I do it by accident. What you did was pretty cool… and who are you anyways?"

Kirlia cast him a sideways glance, then looked at Grovyle. "Can I trust you?" she asked. Grovyle nodded. "Good," she said. "Now listen. I was here doing some research. I was searching for a Time Gear."

Sceptile leapt to his feet. "You WHAT?!" he yelled. He seemed both excited and a little apprehensive.

Kirlia calmly raised her hands and pushed him back to the floor. "I am searching for one of the five Time Gears." She repeated. Sceptile just sat there looking amazed. His expression of concern had been replaced by an expression of complete, absolute awe. Kirlia began to speak again. "I was in this dungeon when this young man here attacked me." she said, gesturing to Hugh.

"Am I really psychic? And a Time Gear? What's that?" asked Hugh.

"Yes!" insisted Kirlia. "You shot psychic flame at me. And the Time Gears, I can explain later, but..."

Kirlia sat down. "What I want to know…" she said, then trailed off. "What's your name, first of all?" she said to Hugh. Hugh told her, and she nodded. "Short for human I take it," she said. Hugh flushed a little. "There's an ancient prophecy, it was made years ago... but it tells of a Pokémon who turned into a human"

"What?" asked Hugh. The others looked amazed.

"Why do you all look so surprised? You mean to tell me," she said, leaning over Grovyle to look at Hugh, "That you were once a Pokémon?"

Hugh looked excited but confused. "Well, that's what I was saying when I woke up. I believe so."

Kirlia started dancing on the spot. "In that case... I think... You, human, you must come with me at once! We must leave!"

Everyone just looked even more confused. "Why?" asked Grovyle. "I mean, we were just resting."

"I want to test you, because if you are the Pokémon, the psychic Pokémon who turned into a human, then you're a hero!" cried Kirlia, looking happier than Hugh had believed possible. "Just- come with me!" She sprinted off, and everyone started following. She lead them straight to the stairs and onto the final floor. They slowed down a bit as they explored the last floor. Sceptile started whispering to Kirlia, just slow, quiet whispers. Hugh overheard the words 'fake', 'attack', and 'believe'. Kirlia nodded, and then straightened up. After a few more minutes of walking, Hugh was surprised by Kirlia as she screamed out "Aaahhh!" and fell to the floor. Sceptile drew himself to full height. Hugh was even more confused by this. Had he knocked out Kirlia?

"Ha ha!" laughed Sceptile. "You'll never do it! You won't fix time!" It was so uncharacteristic that Hugh almost laughed.

"Very funny, dad..." began Grovyle.

"I am a servant of Dusknoir, his equal! I am the true villain here! I arranged the destruction of our village, Grovyle!" said Sceptile, but he seemed a little taken aback by his own words, a look that said 'Oops, I went too far'. Hugh gulped regardless. Sceptile was evil? He charged into Sceptile but was knocked down by a leafy punch to the face. Nose bleeding, he rolled over as Sceptile pulled out a blue orb, and smashed it into the floor. The room lit up with blinding light.

"Luminous orb!" said Grovyle. The light cleared. Sceptile was gone. Grovyle looked around frantically for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Hugh shook his head, Kirlia looked grave, and Grovyle looked shocked. Grovyle slowly wiped his eyes, then stood up. "Was he faking it?" he wondered aloud. "He did say he wanted to leave us… But what I don't understand is the whole Dusknoir thing. He was by my side the day Dusknoir came, and I don't remember him leaving the house without me. Then he stopped sleeping after Dusknoir came. On and on it went, he never slept for worrying about me."

Kirlia shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he probably didn't fake it… he gave Hugh a pretty bad nose injury," she said. Hugh stood up and wiped his nose. "Let's go, anyways…" Kirlia finished. Grovyle gave a weary nod and led the way out. He seemed way too shocked to even speak, but he also seemed sceptical, as if he knew his father would never do this to him.

After the new trio had left the dungeon through the final floor, and the canyon was behind them, Hugh sat down. He was exhausted, and he felt tired and confused by both Kirlia and Sceptile. Grovyle was just as confused, but Kirlia seemed to understand.

"Kirlia, what's the deal with the-" began Grovyle.

"Stop," instructed Kirlia. "Let me speak first." Grovyle nodded. "Your father..." she began, Grovyle sitting up to listen. "...was faking it. He wanted to get away. He staged an attack, and hoped you'd believe it, but I think that's not fair... so I never promised not to tell you it's fake!"

"I understand," said Hugh. "But Sceptile?" He was interrupted by an angry outburst from Grovyle, however.

"All that, just to leave us?!" Kirlia patted him on the shoulder to try and calm him down, but he threw her arm away and stood up. "He should have just said! Why didn't he?" Kirlia began to interrupt, but he stopped her again. "Don't say anything! What's your name anyway?"

Kirlia jumped at the question, surprised at how he went from angry to calm in a few seconds. "What'd you mean, my name?"

"Your name, what do you call yourself? You can't just be Kirlia." said Grovyle, angered again.

"Oh, right. It's Jade." said Kirlia. "And now can I speak?" Grovyle just grunted at her. He was angry at her, angry at Sceptile, even angry at Hugh. She took the trunt to mean 'yes', and continued. "Well. I need to find out about you, Hugh. We need to go somewhere."

"How far away is it?" asked Hugh apprehensively. He didn't want to go on a long trip after that dungeon. His sense of accomplishment after he had defeated the Shedinja had faded to a sad feeling. Why had Sceptile left? Why? "Will we have to walk?" he said, pretending he was perfectly calm.

"Oh, no, don't be silly! It's miles! It took me four weeks to get to the dungeon, why walk?" Jade boomed, laughing as she spoke. "It'll be much quicker if I-_ teleport!_"

* * *

_It was still very clear in Hugh's mind. Sceptile attacking Kirlia... Attacking Jade. Or had he? He was sure he had seen Sceptile pushing her a little and Jade staging an overreaction. And then Sceptile pulling out the Luminous orb... smashing it... glass breaking, the clear blue glass breaking, the glowing light contained in the sphere bursting out, lighting everything up... and then he was gone. The same moments replayed in his head, again, and again, again-_

"Get up!" Hugh obliged. It was Jade speaking. It had only been a few seconds since she had shouted 'teleport', but the dream had lasted long enough to make it seem like hours. Hugh took in the surroundings. There were the usual grey hills, stretching out forever, the usual musty smell, the usual floating rocks... the usual everything. A dull world. What would it be like if the colour came back? Dull world. Bright world. Sad world. Happy world. World. Words, disconnected, floating through Hugh's head. He shook it and turned around to see the others.

"Just a little walk now... about two days worth of walking." said Jade.

"You're joking!" shouted Hugh. Jade just shrugged and led them on. They trudged on in silence, at a relatively fast pace. No conversation broke out, not a single sound was heard. A dull walk. A dull world. Feet shuffling, feet aching. How long had they been walking? Just about 30 seconds. Madness! Was it really that much? Must have been. More walking. Shuffle shuffle, stomp stomp, step step. Walk, walk, walk. No talk, talk, talk, just walk, walk, walk. Never talk, just never ending walk. Walk, walk, walk... More walk, walk, walk... Walk, walk, walk! It was nothing but walking. A life of boring walking. And then there was what Jade had said. Him, a hero? More like a servant, with no purpose other than walking, walking, walking. Hours passed, but the world didn't get darker, or lighter. It was just the world, that was it, nothing else to it. Just a dull, dark, suppressed world where you had to be cruel to survive. That was it, that was all it would ever be. Walking, walking... Days must have passed. No, hours. No, not hours! Months! Years! It must have been-

"We've been walking for about forty hours..." gasped Jade. They had slowed down at some points, stopped a few times, but other than that they had just walked, walked, walked. Forty hours, though... madness. "Over there... it's... it's there..." Jade led them into a place where the hills dipped. There was a small opening in the rock, which she dropped down into. It was pitch black inside. Not the nicest looking place... should he really- "Come on!" called Jade. Hugh took a breath and jumped. It wasn't that deep. Grovyle jumped too soon, and landed on his head, crushing him into the floor. They bickered mindlessly for a few seconds, arguing about safety, but Jade broke them up and led them on into the depths of the cave. The cave opened up into a massively large room. It was huge, with huge rock walls, a huge rock ceiling, and a huge rock floor. Hugh, rock everything. Pokémon were walking back and forth, some leaving through the entrance they had just entered. Others walked through numerous other passageways, down stairs, up stairs, sometimes even climbing the wall to get to higher places. The place was calm, as everyone knew where they were going, but at the same time it seemed hectic and exotic. Jade led them straight through the middle of it all, into a cavern. She carried on leading them, until they arrived in a room that was just about big enough for the three of them. She told them to wait, and returned seconds later carrying two straw beds. She dropped them next to each other, slightly behind the one that was already in the room.

"Beds!" cheered Grovyle. He leapt onto his bed, and almost instantly fell asleep.

Jade nodded at him. "Well, goodnight, Hugh..." she said, before sitting on her own bed. She concentrated, and created a door of purple energy sealing them in the room. Hugh lay down as well, and fell asleep as well.


End file.
